If the financial crisis put an end to the golden age of company takeovers, no one bothered to tell the beer industry – the world's biggest breweries continue to have an insatiable thirst for empire expansion.

Heineken has just taken a major step towards completing the latest money-spinning deal as it gained the approval it needs to buy Asia Pacific Breweries, makers of Tiger beer, for up to £4.1bn. It comes two years after it bought Femsa Cerveza, makers of Sol beer, in Mexico for $7.6bn (£4.8bn)...

First brewed in 1893 and originally named Cerveza Cuauhtémoc after the sixteenth-century Mexican emperor, Indio, as it quickly became called by consumers and renamed as such in 1905, is a dark (and super tasty) beer produced by Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, part of global brewery Heineken.

This week Indio introduced a new logo and packaging designed by Mexico City-based Olabuenaga Chemistri.

The Beer: St.Bernardus Abt 12 is one of the world’s greatest beers. Original recipe, first brewed in 1946, dark brown in color with ruby highlights. Perfectly balanced, with a full body and a hoppy bite. Bottle conditioned, Alc.Vol 10%.

The Bottle: The dark brown Magnum bottle is specially designed. The brewery logo is embossed in the bottle, which gives it a stylish finish. In addition, the special Bière Belge neck personalised champagne cork and the full color wirehood make this Magnum bottle a unique collector’s item.

The Artwork: The famous Belgian artist Rik Vermeersch created the artwork for the frontlabel of this year’s StBernardus Abt 12 Magnum Edition 2012. He made “De Abt” specially for this purpose and the original painting (80x80cm) is part of the art collection of the brewery. The screen printing on the bottle makes it a unique collector’s item and the concept is the start of a yearly tradition.

Belgium is heaven for beer explorers. Beer is Belgium’s claim to fame (in beer lovers’ eyes), much as wine is to France. With more than 100 breweries (and almost ten times that a few generations ago) in a country of 10 million, you can see why. And the brewers produce more than 50 definitive styles, in more than ten times as many brands, including more famous specialty beers than any other nation.

Belgian gastronomy, unlike its history or sociology, is legendary among European countries, perhaps ranking a close second behind French haute cuisine. Featuring dishes made with beer or matched to beers, cuisine à la bière is a Belgian specialty not to be missed. Definitely seek it out.

Belgian secular brews

Like the beers they produce, many Belgian breweries are antiquated. The century-old brewhouses are like working museums. Some brewers even refuse to brush away the cobwebs, claiming that they don’t want to disturb the spiders and the very essence of the brewery.

Having much in common with French wine regions, Belgium has its own beer regions. What you’re likely to find locally depends greatly on where in Belgium you happen to be. If you’re big on sour Red Ales, head west into Flanders; if Oud Bruin is your thing, aim for Oudenaarde. Lambic beers can be found southwest of Brussels, and fans of Witbier should experience it at its source in Hoegaarden (east of Brussels).

Trappist beers and Abbeys

Six legitimate Trappist breweries — meaning that the beer is actually brewed in a brewery within a Trappist monastery and/or brewed by Trappist monks — exist in Belgium. Only beers brewed at one of these six locations can be legally marketed as Trappist beer. (There is a seventh Trappist brewery in Europe — Konigshoeven — but it’s located across Belgium’s border in The Netherlands.)

However, several secular breweries brew beers that are similar to Trappist beers, or they brew beers under license of monasteries that have no brewing facilities. These beers are limited to marketing their brews as Abby, Abbey, Abbaye, Abdij, or similar spellings. Don’t be fooled by names like St. Feullien (note that the pronunciation of the first syllable is fool).

Belgian beer shrines, festivals, and museums

Belgians are acutely aware that beer is a huge part of their national heritage, and they don’t miss many opportunities to celebrate that fact. Hence, the beer trekker can always find something to visit or experience in Belgium.

Beer shrines in Belgium

Though the Belgians are much more nonchalant about their incredible beer experiences, beer geeks consider tours of certain Belgian breweries, cities, or regions nothing less than pilgrimages to beer shrines. Here’s a glance at some possibilities:

Abbey Road: Trappist Ale fans should prearrange a visit to some of the six beer-producing Trappist abbeys in Belgium.

Lambic Lane: Lovers of Lambic beer will want to take a spin on the Bruegel route, south and west of Brussels.

Cafes: All the larger cities (and many of the quainter towns) have at least one outstanding beer bar or cafe (cafes in Belgium are as widespread as pubs in England).

Belgian beer festivals

Just like other countries with dynamic brewing industries, Belgium makes a point of celebrating beer in big and sometimes ostentatious ways.

Poperinge Hopfeesten (Poperinge), every third September: This festival features a folkloric procession of townspeople, a hop-picking contest, and a lot of beer drinking.

Zythos Bier Fest (Leuven), April: This festival, which moved to its new location of Leuven in 2011, is the closest thing to a national beer festival that Belgium has.

Adriaan Brouwer Bierfeesten (Oudenaarde), June: This beer festival is an annual commemorative festival held yearly in honor of the famous painter (Adriaan Brouwer) born there in 1605.

Belgian beer museums

Belgium also has its share of museums that are dedicated to beer and brewing.

Het Brouwershuis or La Maison des Brasseurs (Brussels): Though not a brewery, this palatial museum (headquarters of the Knights of the Mashing Fork and translated as Brewer’s Guildhouse and Confederation of Belgian Brewers Museum) is one of the biggest beer shrines in all of Europe.

De Geuzen Van Oud Beersel (Beersel): Brewing artifacts in this small museum form an extension of the brewery tour.

Brugse Brouwerij Mouterijmuseum (Bruges): This site shows the history of brewing in the city of Bruges. The museum is located in a basement brewery, De Halve Maan.

Musée Bruxelloise de la Gueuze (Brussels): This living museum-brewery of the Cantillon brewery, with displays of brewing history, holds public brewing sessions twice yearly.

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